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Well Foundation’s Greatest Need Fund awards $170,720 in annual grants

ELKHART, Indiana — Committee members overseeing the Well Foundation Greatest Need Fund awarded $170,720 in grants to improve health in Elkhart County.

The grants are being made from funds that were part of the Well Foundation, formerly named the Goshen Hospital & Health Care Foundation, which was created in 1969 to provide strength and stability to Goshen General Hospital so that future generations might have access to high-quality health care. The Foundation gave more than $6 million to the health needs of the surrounding community during its existence.

Its founders, a group of caring people who worked together to give back to the community, organized with the intent of always having local control and management. For nearly 50 years, Well Foundation operated independently before the assets were transferred to the Community Foundation of Elkhart County in March 2017. Many of the founding volunteers remain engaged, as committee members, in grant-making decisions surrounding healthcare in our community.

The Well Foundation Committee met in October to make annual awards from the Greatest Need Fund, which offers unrestricted grants to support community initiatives dedicated to helping Elkhart County citizens live longer, healthier lives.

“The Goshen Hospital & Health Care Foundation, now the Well Foundation, is pleased to continue our mission of supporting health-related projects and organizations in the Elkhart County area,” said Jane Erickson, president of the committee. “We have delighted in doing this for more than 50 years since our founding in 1969.”

This year’s grants are:

• Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition, Healthy Hearts, $45,000
• Maple City Health Care Center, Supplies for acute, long-overdue dental care, $31,441
• Elkhart County Parks, Pollinator Play Path, $25,000
• Ryan’s Place, Grief Support Programs, $16,000
• Elkhart Education Foundation, Kindness to Prevent Blindness Elkhart County, $15,000
• Girls on the Run, Goshen and Elkhart spring 2022 programming, $15,000
• WheelchairHelp.Org, Lift chair and rollator restoration, $6,000
• Friends of the Pumpkinvine, trail completion, $5,000
• Boys & Girls Club of Elkhart County, Social and Emotional Learning Initiative for suicide prevention, $5,000
• Goshen Farmers Market, Fresh Food Therapy program, $3,744
• SPA, exercise equipment and storage, $3,535

Total: $170,720

In addition to the Greatest Need Fund, the former Well Foundation funds support a number of designated programs and scholarships, including the Schrock Nursing Education, Daly Family Nursing, Ed Bradford Family Health Care 4-H Scholarship, Ken and Enid Swanson Nursing, three scholarships in the name of Ned and Agda Farber, Wolf Vision & Home Care, Howard S. Brembeck Vision and Dental Health, Imaging Education, and Stanley Wolfe Fund.